DA says woman beat son, 4, because he showed indications of being gay

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TIGARD, Ore. – A woman on trial in connection to the death of her 4-year-old son beat him because he showed indications he was gay, according to prosecutors.

The boy died from stomach injuries in August 2012. Jessica Dutro-Bogess’ live-in boyfriend, Brian Canady, pleaded guilty to manslaughter earlier this month.

At the time, the family was living at the Good Neighbor shelter in Tigard.

According to court documents, the district attorney accuses Dutro-Bogess of beating her son because of the way he walked and talked.

Court documents show a search warrant turned up a message she sent to her boyfriend on Facebook in May 2012 where she uses a homosexual slur about her 4-year-old son, Zachary: "hes (sic) going to be a *** he walks and talks like it ugh it pisses me off."

Three months later the boy was rushed from the shelter to the hospital, where he died.

Dutro-Bogess is charged with one count of murder, five counts of murder by abuse and one count of second-degree assault.

Dutro-Bogess and her boyfriend lived at the shelter for five or six weeks, according to Jack Schwab, director of the Good Neighbor Center.

Schwab says staff never saw any specific sign of abuse, but they did believe the children behaved unusually.

"They didn't misbehave. They didn't cry out. They didn't run around. They didn't make a fuss," said Schwab, who emphasized the shelter is required by law to report abuse or suspected abuse.

"Although we thought the family acted oddly, and we discussed it, we didn't see anything that would be good enough evidence to get DHS involved," said Schwab.

Previous story originally published March 4:

Brian Canady - 2012 booking photo.

Brian Canady pleaded guilty Tuesday to manslaughter in the August 2012 death of his girlfriend's 4-year-old boy.

Canady and his live-in girlfriend, Jessica Dutro-Bogess, were arrested Aug. 14, 2012 after police said medics became suspicious after taking the injured boy to the hospital from a shelter in Tigard. The boy died a few days later.

Detectives said they found a history of physical abuse by the mother, Dutro-Boggess, and her boyfriend, then 23-year-old Canady.

The couple, the boy and Dutro-Boggess' three other children had been living in a shelter for several weeks and were about to move into permanent housing, according to Tigard police.

According to court documents, Canady admitted he kicked the child in the stomach. Police said after the incident the couple told them the boy had vomited and had diarrhea but it wasn't until the boy lost consciousness that they called 911.

Dutro-Boggess faces charges for not telling authorities after she found out.